Basketball Time in the Bluegrass has HUGE Implications Saturday

KEYS TO KENTUCKY VICTORY-
With the Cats facing another must-win at Rupp Arena, Kentucky prepares to face off with the Tennessee Volunteers. The Vols are equally in need for a win and therefore should be close to the end.

As the game holds major implications for the nearing Selection Sunday(3 weeks away), here is what Kentucky must do to get the victory…

1) Set Screens- It was just two months ago that Jodie Meeks ripped the Tennessee Volunteers for a Kentucky record 54 points. It is no secret that the Vols do not want to be embarrassed again by Meeks and will be covering him more intensly than he has seen all season. It is important to get the junior from Georgia going early and often and therefore the Cats must set screens to open up shots. With ball screens, Kentucky should be able to find ways to get the ball into Jodie Meeks’ hands.

2) Patterson must come back- Over a week ago, Patrick Patterson landed wrong coming down with a rebound against the Gators and has been MIA ever since. The rehab process is slow and as of Thursday, Coach Billy Gillispie was unsure if Patterson would be ready to go Saturday. If P-squared can come back, he should be the difference maker in the game. Patterson is averaging nearly 2 blocks, 9 rebounds, and 17.8 points per game. Without the sophomore standout, the Wildcats went 1-1…they need him Saturday if they want to win.

3) If you have a shot…take it!- I keep going back to the first half of the Florida game two weeks ago. The Cats tossed around the ball and it wound up in point guard Michael Porter’s hands at the top of the key. Collectively the fans urged him to shoot the open three, but he hesitated, passed it off and eventually led to a turnover. Kentucky so heavily relies on Patrick Patterson and Jodie Meeks, no other player seems to want to take a shot. It will be a given that the Tennessee defense will go all out to stop Jodie Meeks and so someone else must take some shots. The key to the game is for the players that aren’t named Patterson and Meeks to take initiative to shoot the ball.

-Prediction-

Kentucky 68

Tennessee 80

- Tennessee is coming off an embarrassing double digit loss to Ole Miss. The last time the Cats faced off with Tennessee in Knoxville, the Vols were embarrassed. With a lot to prove, I think it will be Bruce Pearl's team that will want it more and come out with the victory.

Four Way Tie in SEC EAST....again

You lose, we all lose.

Just one day after Kentucky fell one game behind Tennessee and South Carolina for 1st in the SEC Eastern division, both the Vols and Gamecocks found ways to lose.

Tennessee was dominated by Ole Miss 81-65. The Volunteers were outrebounded, outshot, and outplayed. With the loss, the game with the Kentucky Wildcats in Rupp Arena Saturday is a must win for both teams, if they are not wanting to sweat out selection Sunday in nearly a month.

The cute pick, a youthful South Carolina Gamecocks also fell Wednesday night to Mississippi State 75-70. The Gamecocks led at halftime but were outplayed in the 2nd half for a Bulldog victory.

Now, with both teams losing ahead of the Cats, there is once again a four way tie atop the SEC East with Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Tennessee all knotted up with four losses.
In the remaining weeks, each team plays each other one more time.

The margin for error for all the East teams has once again tightened and so promises to be an exciting last month of the SEC season.

SEC - East

Florida 7-4
South Carolina 7-4
Kentucky 7-4
Tennessee 7-4
Vanderbilt 5- 6
Georgia 1-10

Cats Can't Leave Nashville with a Win

Kentucky Loses Steam--

Is Vanderbilt’s Memorial Coliseum a house of horrors for the Cats? It might be, as the Wildcats entered the gym Tuesday night on a roll winning two crucial SEC games, only to lose mightily at the hands to the Vanderbilt Commodores 77-64 last night.

Kentucky’s loss to Vanderbilt is the fourth straight in Nashville and now places the Cats in yet another hole in the SEC East.

The game started bad and ended worse. The Patrick Patterson-less Wildcats appeared to be a step behind the ‘Dores all day.

Kentucky committed 13 fouls in the opening 20 minutes and finished with a season high 29 fouls. The immense amount of fouls sent Vanderbilt to the line where they took advantage of the mistake-prone Cats. Vandy shot 80% from the free throw line.

Not only was Vanderbilt capitalizing on the Cats constant fouls but was also able to dominate down low—out rebounding Kentucky 31-23.

Kentucky now is looking up at both South Carolina and Tennessee in the East Division. With the SEC already thought to be a down conference, each loss is more and more costly. The Cats now must face a seemingly, ‘Back-on-track’ Tennessee Volunteer team that has won their last 2 games.

Tennessee Game will be nationally televised on CBS Saturday, Tip at 1 p.m EST

Kentucky and Vanderbilt--Round 2

Ugliness. In a word, ugliness can describe the scene a year ago in Nashville.

It was in Nashville, that the Kentucky Wildcats suffered the most embarrassing, lopsided loss in the Billy Gillespie era losing to the Commodores by 41 points.

Kentucky scored only 11 in the first half and at the final gun the score- 93-52. This year however, the teams and situation is different.

The Cats head to Nashville with a little confidence, swagger, and mindset that they have turned this season around.

The turnaround began last week with a last second three point shot by Jodie Meeks to knock off the Gators and then Saturday, Kentucky dominated the Razorbacks in Fayetteville. Meeks, again was unstoppable scoring 45 points.

With the Cats hitting stride again, they travel to Nashville. The opponent—Vanderbilt, has struggled immensely this season. Losing shooter Shan Foster has proved to be a huge loss for the ‘Dores, as they appear to be headed to a tournament-less season for the first time in 3 years.

The struggling Dore team is led by sophomore big man A.J Ogilvy.

Ogilvy was injured when the Cats last met in January, but should be a key to victory for either team.

According to Billy Gillespie yesterday, the coach was less than optimistic about his big man Patrick Patterson, who injured his foot one week ago and sidelined him in Arkansas.

“He did not seem to be where I wanted him to be”, said Gillespie.

Without Patterson in the line up, the Cats will be overmatched downlow. Without Patterson’s presence, the Cats loss rebound power, blocked shot capabilities, and the second scorer.

As Jay Bilas pointed out, “You look at Kentucky’s numbers and their third option has shot less than half the times of Kentucky’s second leading scorer.”

Meaning, that Kentucky is going to be in trouble today, if Jodie Meeks can be stopped and Patterson out, the supporting cast is less than sufficient.

It will be key, for Kentucky to get Jodie Meeks going early. The long shots will be key due to Kentucky being overmatched below the basket.

Kentucky takes on Vanderbilt at 9 pm on ESPN